Quentin Tarantino

The career of Quentin Tarantino instantly became the stuff of Hollywood legend, thanks to winning an Oscar, Golden Globe and numerous critics' awards for Best Original Screenplay for the groundbreakin...
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Here in America, we have a bounty of films from which to choose for our cinematic outings — films filled with all the gore, violence, sexual content, and stirring political themes you can ask for. But we take this luxury for granted, as the residents of certain other nations are subject to more selective release platters. Take China, for instance. Following an announcement that it would be screening Django Unchained for select audiences, China abruptly pulled the Quentin Tarantino picture from release. Very abruptly. Like, during the screening.
Only a few seconds into China's first showings of the Civil War-era picture on Thursday, cinemas halted Django's broadcast, citing "technical problems" as motivation, with Reuters reporting that industry figures cited the film's exhibition of nudity as the rationale behind the action. As an official at one Shanghai-based theater stated, "We got the notice from our headquarters around 10:00 a.m. this morning but it was too late to cancel two viewings. We were only told that it was due to some technology problems and were told to cancel it. They didn't tell us when the film would be shown again."
While Django might well return to China's theaters (plausibly with a few additional edits), its banishment from the country's release plate would hardly make the Tarantino film an outlier. China has kept quite a few well-known tiles out of reach of its viewing public...
Ben-Hur: Reportedly, China disallowed release of the classic Charlton Heston picture due to its overt embrace of Christian themes.
The Departed: Thanks to a single line about the Chinese government's intention to attack neighboring country Taiwan with nuclear weapons, China withheld permission to show Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning film.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End: Unofficial reports attribute the pulling of the third Jack Sparrow movie to China's decision that Chow Yun-fat's character, Sao Feng, upheld negative East Asian stereotypes.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life: The film's depiction of Chinese society was considered negative and offensive by China's standards.
Farewell My Concubine: Most alarmingly of all, the 1993 Chinese film was banned nationally for its embrace and depiction of homosexuality, and for its critical take on communism.
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Quentin Tarantino's blockbuster Django Unchained has been pulled from Chinese cinemas on its first day of release. Tarantino's slavery-era Western is the first of his movies to be released in China as his previous offerings, including Pulp Fiction and Inglourious Basterds, were banned due to their gory content.
The director even toned down the film's violence to meet the country's strict censure rules, but all screenings of the movie, which was released on Thursday (11Apr13), have now been cancelled, according to Chinese news and entertainment website Sina.com.
Local reports suggest the screenings have been suspended due to "technical reasons".

Director Quentin Tarantino has toned down the violence in his gory blockbuster Django Unchained to gain the approval of strict Chinese censors. The slave-era Western is the first of Tarantino's films to be released in China as all of his previous offerings, including Inglourious Basterds and the Kill Bill franchise, have been banned due to their bloody content.
The Oscar-winning movie will hit cinemas in mainland China on Thursday (11Apr13), with "slight adjustments" according to Zhang Miao, director of Sony Pictures' Chinese branch.
In a statement obtained by Britain's The Independent, he says, "What we call bloodshed and violence is just a means of serving the purpose of the film, and these slight adjustments will not affect the basic quality of the film - such as tuning the blood to a darker colour, or lowering the height of the splatter of blood. Quentin knew how to adjust that, and it's necessary that he is the one to do it. You can give him suggestions, but it must be him who does (the editing). This adjustment for him is progress rather than a compromise."
Many other Hollywood films have been altered to secure their release in China, including 2012 Bond thriller Skyfall and Brad Pitt's new zombie movie World War Z.

While Sam Raimi's third Spider-Man film might be a tear-inducing memory for many of us, there are a handful of Hollywood names who owe their big screen careers to the trilogy. Known best for their work on television, the likes of James Franco and Topher Grace joined the world of cinema with Raimi's series. And this promotion of sorts seems to carry forth in director Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man reboot. The filmmaker, who has been tweeting a slew of pictures from the set of his developing second Peter Parker chapter, reveals the inclusion of one B.J. Novak in the cast — the actor known best as Ryan Howard, the egomaniacal temp/executive from The Office.
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Novak is revealed in a joyless pair of specs in the below image from the Amazing Spider-Man 2 set. Although a small but prominent role in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious basterds predicted a transition to film for the actor, we have yet to see him continue a cinematic streak. But this surprise turn in the Marvel venture could mean bright things for Novak's big screen future. Click the image below to see more pics from the Amazing Spider-Man 2 set.
Novak is also slated to appear in the comedy The Internship and the dramatic biography film Saving Mr. Banks. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will hit theaters in spring of 2014.
Follow Michael Arbeiter on Twitter @MichaelArbeiter
[Photo Credit: Twitter]
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Just like the pearl-adorned villains in every old timey movie about showbiz, Hollywood is littered with people who just need to be the star of everything and anything they're in. Actors and actresses who vie for most memorable lines and strongest scenes in their respective productions. In keeping with the bravado of many of his oscreen incarnations, Will Smith was apparently in this mindset in regards to Django Unchained. Originally slated to play the title character, Smith tells Entertainment Weekly that he passed on the role because he felt he would be outshined by Christoph Waltz.
"Django wasn’t the lead," Smith says to EW. "So it was like, I need to be the lead. The other character was the lead!" Smith explains that while he appreciated the artistic merits of Quentin Tarantino's script, he wasn't willing to take a character that didn't lay claim to the scene-stealing demolition of the film's big bad wolf, Leonardo DiCaprio.
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"I was like, 'No, Quentin, please, I need to kill the bad guy!'" Smith says, relaying that Tarantino was unwilling to alter the film's ending. All in all, the actor admits, "I thought it was brilliant. Just not for me." Apparently meaning, it involved other people looking cool. Let's hope that Smith is willing to at least share some of the glory with his son in the upcoming After Earth...
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[Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
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For starters, I need to talk about Spring Breakers. Yes, I understand that this is the finale and I should be appropriately freaking out about the maybe reveal of Red Coat, but this is also the first post-Spring Breakers episode of PLL. I am wildly obsessed with Spring Breakers (I have lost all of my friends over this thing and I don’t even care), and everyone should see the damn movie when it opens nationwide on March 22nd. NY &amp; LA have been very blessed by having access to the movie a week early, which means I celebrated spring break in NY all last weekend. Adults who are old enough to actually attend R-rated movies can see this puppy; if parents are monitoring the Internet use that is allowing you to read this very sentence, wait until you are in college on this one. Don’t disobey your parents and lie to them about the movie you’re seeing – I did that and ended up so emotionally scarred that I watch/write about Pretty Little Liars every single week. Ashley Benson is a superstar and I continue to kiss Hefty Hanna’s feet until the end of days.
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Now – THE FINALE!!! This finale wasn’t as good as the last finale, mainly because I love a good time jump narrative structure, but also because the lighthouse scene between Emily and Evil Fake Cousin Nate was a highlight for all of PLL till the end of time. All the girls looked very mature and beautiful tonight, which is a plus in everyone’s book – there were some standard colossal fashion missteps, but everyone’s hair was flawless. I will also say that the climax of the episode was the most ambitious scene PLL has ever attempted, to somewhat mixed results. More on that later – we start the episode with the girls celebrating high tea at Spencer’s house, which no one questions. Spencer is planning some sort of grand soiree over the weekend, which clearly means something very bad is going to happen to everyone in Rosewood. PornStarMom is visiting (/hiding out in) NY so she is safe. Hanna asks the difference between a crumpet and an English muffin, which is honestly a really solid question and appropriate given the current social event. Spencer is planning something wicked – ABC Family was nice enough to remind us of Spencer joining Team A during a seizure-inducing “last week on” montage.
Black Hood is hanging out in the Black Hood Van of Death, transferring cell numbers from the van’s database to Black Hood’s mobile. This is like the hacking scenes in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, only more sinister and featuring more tattoos. Black Hood looks a little sketch doing all of this, but Mona is rather nonchalant. Mona is drinking some kind of evil concoction from an “IS IT FRIDAY YET?” mug, which doesn’t make sense because a true villain would love weekdays and especially Monday into Tuesday. There’s no way insane villains enjoy days everyone else enjoys. That’s just not right. I think I’ve been watching this show too much and my thinking is very paranoid/warped. Mona is bad news.
BABYSITTER WANTED – Hanna is thinking up a wonderful way to trick Malcolm into outing A, which seems like a smart idea until you realize Malcolm is 7 and doesn’t even know how to jump on a bed properly without sending himself to the hospital. Idiot little boy, A should have killed the brat when she had the chance. Aria and Spencer clearly think this babysitter exploitation is a bad idea; Aria’s eyeballs look as big as humanly possible in protest, stretching to the point where Aria might actually be a vessel for alien life where her eyeballs are actually their spaceships. My younger brother used to always manipulate the babysitter into giving him a donut in bed, so I think it’s about time that the babysitter starts getting her own sort of revenge. Spencer has started washing her hair, which means that I’m going to trust her. Shana is swimming at Rosewood, has a creepy connection to Spencer and then lurks away. Hanna hates Shana, but why? “Because. She flirts with everyone but me.” Hanna wins all of the awards for this comment. Ashley Benson is God’s gift to us.
EZRA IS BACK AT ROSEWOOD. I repeat, the teacher that began a wildly inappropriate relationship with one of his students has been allowed back on school grounds. Rosewood is a lawless place. Ezra says he’s not going to accept the teaching gig; the whole situation didn’t go his way. However, there is a much more important return to our favorite small PA city – JENNA. JENNA IS BACK!!! JENNA!!! JENNA!!! JENNA!!! JENNA!!! JENNA!!! Okay, I’m done. We only had to survive a couple of episodes with zero Jenna and zero CeCe, but I’m so glad this hot blind bitch is back in town to stir the pot after being missing for far too many episodes. A is literally texting Jenna from her own damn porch. Wait, is A texting Jenna? This finale plays with perception a lot, as PLL really loves manipulating the audience. What a surprise! I just remembered that Jason’s body is missing after the elevator fall and I can’t stop laughing/crying. Too many emotions at once.
Hanna is interviewing for the babysitting position, because girl does not give up when she thinks she has a winning plan. Hanna jokes about Malcolm liking “fast cars and fast girls.” When Hanna learns that Malcolm is a big fan of trains, she calls, “ALL ABOARD THE HANNA EXPRESS!” Yep, Ezra should feel really safe leaving his son with Hanna. Naturally, no one in Rosewood knows how to take care of his or her own and Ezra decides Hanna can babysit Malcolm once to see how things go. Because, well, no big deal if Malcolm is killed this one time. Ezra and Aria share an awful scene where Aria’s tights are really distracting because they feature 994 colors at the same time. “Nothing about us feels right anymore,” whispers Aria between tears. DAMN RIGHT, HONEY.
Jenna is HOT HOT HOT now that she can see. My notes during this scene are mainly just the f-word repeated till the end of time, but I think that was really just the part focusing on Jenna’s heels and legs. It turns out that Jenna is a lesbian with Shana, or else something super fishy is happening when they rub their hands together. Maybe these girls are witches! Maybe we’re developing a new spin-off that’s half-Vampire Diaries, half-PLL. This also means that the A on Jenna’s porch is not Shana, but instead this Black Hood character waiting in the Twin Peaks diner. Someone walks in to meet Black Hood, described as “Pretty Eyes” – it’s TOBY!!!!!!!!!! HE IS ALIVE!!!!!! What an Easter miracle. I would not say that Toby’s eyeballs are his most defining feature (my vote – monster jaw). And under the black hood? Spencer, wearing a lot of make-up. SPENCER!!! Duh. I screamed a lot during this scene, for no real reason.
Spencer has been a part of Mona’s game so she could find answers – answers about Toby and answers about Red Coat. Spencer was the one hacking into Mona’s database for the cell number; Spencer knew she could find a way to get in touch with Toby. Spencer cements her status as the smartest person on the planet, and I bow in the presence of greatness (right now God has forsaken us). “Everything I’ve done so I could protect you” – Spencer and Toby are on solid terms again. A sex scene is in our future. Spencer was also the one to kidnap Malcolm and take him to the carnival, which is some elaborate plan to make Aria trust Spencer. Or something. Honestly, I don’t understand that logic and I’d rather just forget about the period of time where Spencer was locked up and didn’t think to deal with her dirty hair.
During babysitting, Hanna tells Malcolm that television rots the brain – “it’s your choice if you want to grow up to be stupid.” Hanna instead proposes this really fun game where she flips through all of her female friends and sees if Malcolm recognizes anyone. Turns out, Hanna just has all of her friends’ headshots in her iPhone photos and absolutely no nudes that she would have recently sent to Caleb. Regardless, Malcolm doesn’t bite; none of these girls are “Aria’s friend Alison.” Hanna alerts Emily. Emily is going for a midnight run, which seems stupid since she has a swim meet the next day. Emily spots Melissa, Jenna, and Shana yelling about something, something that looks like the invite for Spencer’s “party.” Lame. Emily once again thinks she’s Nancy Drew. Emily is probably drunk. I hope you all donated to the Veronica Mars movie.
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Toby is living at a motel. Toby and Spencer have a lot of steamy sex while Lana Del Rey plays over the soundtrack. I think someone is trying to reference Vertigo but I also think the camera is drunk. I can hear a million teenagers sobbing into their pillows in a frenzy of lust. I die happy.
Hanna tells Malcolm about the days when she would eat “peanut butter, frosting in a can, and have a party.” Frosting in a can is one of the true blessings that human beings have discovered. I hope season four deals with a really scary plot where Hanna begins binge eating frosting again, resulting in her own emotional meltdown. I wonder if the other girls are mad that Ashley Benson got to do Spring Breakers while they painted their nails and took pictures for Teen Vogue… Okay. Back to babysitting. Someone sends Hanna a picture of Alison and SPENCER. Malcolm recognizes the “girl in the blue shirt” – SPENCER. Uh oh. Spencer is in trouble. Team Malcolm! This kid of ambiguous ethnic background redeems himself.
The next day – swim meet at Rosewood. This scene is kind of genius. Spencer spots Red Coat walking into the meet, but then realizes that the visiting team is the Red Devils; red cloaks are everywhere. Spencer finally spots her Red Coat again, and follows our mysterious figure into the bathroom… only to find it’s HANNA. Actually, it’s a trap set by the Three Sane Liars – if Spencer doesn’t know the identity of Red Coat, then she’s clearly not doing the dirty with Mona. Spencer is wearing too much make-up and too much black. Spencer explains that Mona wanted to break Spencer in the woods with the fake Toby body so that Mona could rebuild Spencer into a new machine of revenge; however, it backfired, as Spencer was strong enough to use Mona in order to find Toby and develop a plan to figure out the identity of Red Coat. Emily is hanging out in the bathroom when she should be swimming.
Aria learns that Ezra took the job at Rosewood, after he blatantly lied to her. Aria is pissed – “You’re right. There never was a happy ending for us.” While this long breakup was super sad, I think the more important tidbit we learned here is that the Liars have 7 more months of high school. SEVEN. I have absolutely no idea how that is even humanly possible at this damn school. Even fantasy/horror-influenced high school dramas like Buffy the Vampire Slayer didn’t use high school as an endless metaphor for purgatory. Is PLL a Lost prequel…?
Here we go. THE CLIMAX. Okay, the more I think about this climax the more I realize it was kind of a grand ballet for these girls. I’m just frustrated that we didn’t get any concrete answers. The three Liars in trouble get ready for the big party – Hanna brags about her brand new Miu Miu shoes, which she will return tomorrow for a full refund. The girls look super glammed up for this random soiree. Someone takes a video of the girls from outside Hanna’s home, and it seems like Hanna’s windows don’t hold any sort of sound inside the house. Excellent. That someone videographer was Toby – he needed to convince Mona that the girls were en route. As soon as the three Liars arrive at the lodge, they switch into their sneaky boots and make their way into the house; we’re turning the tables on Mona! Meanwhile, RED COAT IS IN A GIANT AIRPLANE ON HER WAY TO THE LODGE’S LANDING STRIP. The budget for this episode just skyrocketed, and I’m obsessed with Red Coat having a plane.
Mona is the worst. Toby is pretending to be super rude so Mona still trusts him; as soon as Spencer and Toby are outside in the woods, they are secret lovebirds all over again. Spencer has the best gown of the evening, because it is gold and also to the max sparkly. I still don’t understand why this fake party was put together, or why anyone would actually want to go, but whatever. A party to celebrate Spencer getting out of the loony bin? That sounds uncouth. Spencer runs off to see Red Coat’s face, Toby heads in the other direction to discover some strangers roaming around the woods – I believe these strangers are Melissa-Jenna-Shana, but PLL is obviously infamous for showing us what they want us to believe. Sigh.
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Mona is terribly upset when she’s corned by Aria, Emily, and Hanna - “Red Coat is everywhere and she’s nowhere,” according to Mona. That makes sense, Crazy One. One of the randos in the woods lights the cabin/lodge on fire, which is a nice touch. No one can escape! LOL! The fire illuminates the A-frame of the house, so the fire looks like an A. Get it? A!!! I could also be unhinged and hallucinating – please let me know if I should seek medical attention. Everyone is shocked to learn that Mona also doesn’t know who Red Coat is, but I don’t know why these girls assumed that a criminal mastermind would reveal themselves to a sad little girl that recently escaped from her insane asylum and joined the brainiacs.
Randos in the woods hit Toby in the back of the head; he’s knocked out, and they drop a lighter in his hand that features a wonky compass rose. This seems like a big clue for season four. Spencer follows Red Coat through the woods for 44 minutes of this hour-long episode, until Red Coat is seen pulling the three Liars from the burning house. Red Coat moves like Nightcrawler from X-Men. Hanna thinks she spots Red Coat’s face for a brief second… seeing the face is Ali? ALI IS ALIVE?!!???!! ALI IS RED COAT???!!! The show was clearly setting CeCe up for the big reveal, but the question of Ali being alive has always floated around the show. Also, how do we deal with the show’s recurring, shady references to Ali’s twin ? I haven’t read the book series so I don’t know anything. I do know that Chuck Bass was bisexual and owned a pet monkey in the Gossip Girl books, so there’s always that to cling to in times of need. The possible promise of Living Ali means my jaw is still on the floor. I always think I know PLL’s next big move and yet still find myself shocked. I’m a sucker for this sort of thing.
Hanna wasn’t dreaming; Mona is saying that Alison pulled them out of the fire, and Spencer also adds her voice to the “Ali is Red Coat” screams. We don’t have solid evidence, but this seems pretty legitimate. I’m sure season 4 will reveal that all of the girls are drug addicts living out their delusion alternate realty involving a rude blonde nurse named Alison, but this is a great development for now – it’s just the right amount of creepy with the slight possibility that the entire thing is totally false.
The Liars and Mona return from the woody lodge, relieved that they weren’t burned alive or fake blinded like Jenna. They’re relieved until they’re outside of Hanna’s home and spot WILDEN’S CAR FROM THE POND. THE VIDEO IS STILL ON LOOP. THIS CAR IS A TRANSFORMER AND IMMORTAL. We see PornStarMom hitting Wilden with her car… but then the video hits new footage - JENNA &amp; SHANA HELP WILDEN OUT OF THE WOODS. Okay. Jenna is back in town and Jenna is ready to f**k some bitches UP. Our four ladies AND MONA receive a nice text – “You’re mine now. Kisses-A.” Spencer pops open the trunk. We receive a nice reverse angle form inside the truck, looking up at the gaggle of misfits; I’m sure Quentin Tarantino would be fond of this shot if he was fond of PLL (and QT is just crazy enough that he might actually watch this damn show). Everyone screams bloody murder.
The tag at the end of the episode loops us back to Ali’s Carrie hand, shooting up from the dirt as a cry for help; this was the season 3 Halloween tag. However, we get a few more seconds of footage this time around, and we see another hand dive in to pull Ali out of her grave. HOLY WOAH. Maybe Alison shook off that dirt, hopped in her Pussy Wagon, and rode off to kill Bill. Maybe Alison was being turned, and now she is a full-fledged vampire. PLL has become much darker and twisty, and while I’m up for the change (just like Harry Potter!), I kind of miss the playful, cartoon-y edge of the early years; thank God Almighty that Hanna is still around to lighten the mood. SPRING BREAK FOREVER. I’m sure the forth season will be bonkers – I. Marlene King recently tweeted about re-watching the pilot episode while writing season 4; King also hinted in the PLL Entertainment Weekly cover story that the show could draw to a close after the fifth season. I say 55 seasons. Minimum.
[Image Credit: ABC Family(2)]
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The ninja community has latched onto a good number of our favorite sources of entertainment. The practice of ninjitsu has reached the teenage mutant turtle race, the works of Quentin Tarantino, and bored iPad owners with a strange animosity for fruit items. But G.I. Joe: Retaliation looks to reign supreme as contemporary pop culture's leading authority on the age-old martial art.
The below clip from the upcoming movie features a ninja faceoff that would call envy from the likes of Colt and Tum-Tum. Featured is Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) coming to blows with a fellow masked fighter, trading kicks, jagged stars, and razor sharp swords in their mountaintop battle.
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Check out the clip below. G.I. Joe: Retaliation — which also stars Bruce Willis, Dwayne Johnson, Adrianne Palicki, and Channing Tatum — hits theaters Mar. 28.
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[Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures]
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This past week, a lot of the pop culture jokes have circled around the Oscars, targeting Seth MacFarlane as a mediocre host, or Kristin Chenoweth for her height — or for all the jokes she herself made about it. But then, the rest of the week happened, granting us new material... like IKEA recalling its meatballs because they were found to be made with traces of horse meat, or the Pope finishing out his last day at the Vatican. Between all of these events, the jokesters took to Twitter to let loose.
Check out the 10 funniest pop culture tweets of the week below!
RELATED: Funniest Pop Culture Tweets from Last Week
10 Funniest Tweets of the Week:
1. Rob Delaney: "I think we can all agree that this comment under The Onion's apology makes it all worth it: pic.twitter.com/IGH1mCpnAz"
I think we can all agree that this comment under The Onion's apology makes it all worth it: twitter.com/robdelaney/sta…
— rob delaney (@robdelaney) February 25, 2013
2. George Takei: "The only thing that could make the Oscars gayer, @SethMacFarlane, is if I hosted them"
The only thing that could make the Oscars gayer, @sethmacfarlane, is if I hosted them
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) February 25, 2013
3. Jessi Klein: "Quentin Tarantino is on the maybe list of all his friends' weddings"
Quentin Tarantino is on the maybe list of all his friends' weddings
— Jessi Klein (@jessirklein) February 25, 2013
4. Jim Gaffigan: "Can't wait to see former Pope Benedict on Dancing With The Stars!"
Can't wait to see former Pope Benedict on Dancing With The Stars!
— Jim Gaffigan (@JimGaffigan) February 28, 2013
5. Eliza Bayne: "If banks are so worried about people stealing their pens, they should just attach them to a Creed CD"
If banks are so worried about people stealing their pens, they should just attach them to a Creed CD
— Eliza Bayne (@ElizaBayne) February 28, 2013
6. Patton Oswalt: "If a horse named Ikea Meatball doesn't win the Kentucky Derby this year, I swear I just don't know anymore."
If a horse named Ikea Meatball doesn't win the Kentucky Derby this year, I swear I just don't know anymore.
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) February 26, 2013
7. Jason Biggs: "Next year, ABC, try hiring red carpet hosts that don't need a step stool to speak with the celebs. #Oscars"
Next year, ABC, try hiring red carpet hosts that don't need a step stool to speak with the celebs. #Oscars
— Jason Biggs (@JasonBiggs) February 25, 2013
8. Damon Lindeloff: "For all those following me, please be aware that I will be obsessively tweeting about Bieber's hat for the next NINE HOURS."
For all those following me, please be aware that I will be obsessively tweeting about Bieber's hat for the next NINE HOURS.
— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) February 27, 2013
"That hat looks like Pac Man wandered into the gay bar from Police Academy"
That hat looks like Pac Man wandered into the gay bar from Police Academy
— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) February 27, 2013
"I made a meme. http://qkme.me/3t62ee"
I made a meme.qkme.me/3t62ee
— Damon Lindelof (@DamonLindelof) February 27, 2013
9. Joan Rivers: "On Sunday night, you could easily pick Adele's Oscar statuette out of a lineup. It was the only one wearing Spanx."
On Sunday night, you could easily pick Adele's Oscar statuette out of a lineup. It was the only one wearing Spanx.
— Joan Rivers (@Joan_Rivers) February 26, 2013
10. Neal Brennan: "Ladies and gentlemen, HorseMeatLoaf http://say.ly/ELT5fuB"
Ladies and gentlemen, HorseMeatLoaf say.ly/ELT5fuB
— Neal Brennan (@nealbrennan) February 25, 2013
Follow Lindsey on Twitter @LDiMat.
[Photo Credit: ABC; Twitter]
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After losing out to Ang Lee at the 2013 Oscars, a win that would have earned him his third Best Director statue, Steven Spielberg has found an equally prestigious gig: leading the 2013 Cannes Film Festival jury.
Slated to begin on May 15, the Festival de Cannes enters its 66th year, with the legendary director presiding over the committee that will hand out the coveted Palme d'Or award. Spielberg is no stranger to Cannes, having screened Sugarland Express, The Color Purple, and E.T. at the festival. In a press release, film festival President Gilles Jacob admits to having chased Spielberg for years, never being able to secure him as Jury President due to his demanding shooting schedule. From the sounds of it, the Lincoln director couldn't be happier to squeeze Cannes into his 2013.
“My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none," says Spielberg. "The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has always established the motion picture as a cross cultural and generational medium.”
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Unlike the Academy Awards or most big name film festivals, Cannes is known for its worldly and eclectic lineups — not your standard Hollywood "prestige films." And while Spielberg continues to challenge himself with topics and styles outside his comfort zone, he certainly has an American film industry gloss to his movies. Which makes us wonder: will Spielberg wind up picking the most "Spielbergian" film of the crop? Cannes may be a chance for Spielberg to show off his tastes for movies he would never make, but we wouldn't be surprised if the winner winds up being an uplifting story following a person struggling against great odds (if it's a kid, even better) accompanied by a sweeping score and peppered with instances of the Spielberg Face: that mouth-agape moment embodying true amazement.
That's half of what's expected from the head juror: personal reflection. What Spielberg brings to the table as a filmmaker and as a movie-watcher will be reflected in his decision — and he won't be alone. Here are a few examples of Jury Presidents of yesteryears and the Cannes films they bestowed with the Palme d'Or. Just surprising enough:
2011: Robert De Niro, Tree of Life
As a performer highly regarded across the globe, it's not surprising that De Niro gravitated towards the grandest of 2011 competition entries. Terrence Malick's didn't win over everyone in France — apparently, they're not as keen on wheat fields as most Americans — but the story of troubled boyhood must have resonated with an actor who made a career out of playing dangerously warped men.
2010: Tim Burton, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Apichatpong Weerasethakul's winning film Uncle Boonmee revolves around a dying man wading through his memories alongside his family… including the ghosts of his loved ones. The weird and wonderful played right to Burton's tastes.
2009: Isabele Huppert, The White Ribbon
The White Ribbon is a dense, chilling exploration of how even the nicest kids can grow up to be murderous Nazis, but there may have been a little favoritism when Michael Haneke (Amour) picked up his second Palme d'Or: Huppert previously starred in his 2001 film The Piano Teacher.
2008: Sean Penn, The Class
Penn leads a double life: he's an award-winning actor who spends most of his time promoting social advocacy. The Class speaks to his off-screen quests, diving into the tricky world of education and boiling it down to human stories.
RELATED: In Defense Of 'Django' Director Quentin Tarantino's Worst Movie, 'Death Proof'
2004: Quentin Tarantino, Fahrenheit 9/11
His divisive and, often times, bizarre tastes (a published list of his favorite films of 2011 included Moneyball and The Three Musketeers) made Tarantino an unpredictable jury member. The fact that he landed on Michael Moore's caustic George W. Bush documentary — the first non-fiction film to win the Palme d'Or since 1956 — was both a shock and perfectly aligned with his sensibilities.
1994: Clint Eastwood, Pulp Fiction
Speaking of Tarantino, cinema's resident badass took the opportunity to award the rising directorial star at the 1994 Cannes Film Fest. When anyone pictured a lawman stuffing a gun in goon's face, the man holding the pistol was Eastwood. He was iconic. Tarantino's Pulp Fiction reshaped the identity of violence in movies, and it's logical that Eastwood would be the man to award the work.
1976: Tennessee Williams, Taxi Driver
Even today, Williams is one of the most recognizable American dramatists, a voice capable of reflecting the underbelly of the country's picture perfect image (in fact, he feels so mythical, it's hard to believe he was once a Cannes judge). So leave it to Williams to name Martin Scorsese's harrowing Taxi Driver — one of the director's many this-can't-possibly-be-how-this-country-actually-is-oh-wait-it-totally-is-NOOOOO films from the '70s and '80s — with the Palme.
1966: Sophia Loren, The Birds, the Bees and the Italians
Legendary Italian bombshell picks Italian sex comedy? Perfetto!
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Appeared in and wrote the script for Robert Rodriguez's "From Dusk Till Dawn"

Received strong notices for his performance in "Sleep With Me"

Wrote and directed "Inglourious Basterds," about a group of U.S. soldiers in Nazi occupied France during WWII; earned Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay and a Directors Guild nomination for Outstanding Directorial Ach

Nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing ("Inglourious Basterds")

Produced Eli Roth's horror feature "Hostel"

Wrote "Kill Bill" script for Uma Thurman; was scheduled to direct in 2001 but was postponed after Thurman became pregnant; film released in two volumes "Kill Bill Vol. 1" (2003) and "Kill Bill Vol. 2" (2004)

Played first feature lead, Johnny Destiny in "Destiny Turns on the Radio"

Featured in "Little Nicky," starring Adam Sandler

Met future collaborator, writer-director Robert Rodriguez, at Toronto Film Festival

Nominated for the 2009 Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film ("Inglourious Basterds")

Helmed and wrote screenplay for "Django Unchained," a Western drama set in Mississippi; also appeared in film

Commissioned to write a screenplay based on six-page story by Robert Kurtzman (co-founder of the special effects makeup company KNB Effects); eventually became "From Dusk Till Dawn"

Summary

The career of Quentin Tarantino instantly became the stuff of Hollywood legend, thanks to winning an Oscar, Golden Globe and numerous critics' awards for Best Original Screenplay for the groundbreaking and much-imitated "Pulp Fiction" (1994). Having famously learned his art while working as a video store clerk after dropping out of high school, Tarantino burst onto the scene first as a writer, penning the original drafts of Tony Scott's "True Romance" (1993) and Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" (1994). Prior to that, he was a cause célèbre at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival with his breakout heist-gone-wrong thriller "Reservoir Dogs" (1992). But it was "Pulp Fiction" that caught the attention of Hollywood, with the entertainment press selecting him - for better or worse - as the symbol of a new generation of hot, young directors. Tarantino followed up with the critically hailed "Jackie Brown" (1997), an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's <i>Rum Punch</i>, only to stumble as an actor in a stage revival of "Wait Until Dark" (1998). Tarantino returned to the director's chair for the epic martial arts flicks "Kill Bill vol. 1" (2003) and "Kill Bill vol. 2" (2004), which were originally intended to be one film. After helming the "Death Proof" featurette in "Grind House" (2007), his gory collaboration with friend Robert Rodriguez, Tarantino returned to his Oscar-caliber ways with "Inglorious Basterds" (2009) and "Django Unchained" (2012). Regardless of what his harshest critics might have said, Tarantino remained a true auteur able to make his own films in an otherwise restrictive Hollywood system.

Education

"A spectacularly entertaining piece of pop culture, 'Pulp Fiction' is the 'American Graffitti' of violent crime pictures. Tarantino positions himself as the Preston Sturges of crimeland, putting the most incongruous words and thoughts into the mouths of lowdown, amoral characters." – Todd McCarthy's review of "Pulp Fiction," Daily Variety, May 23, 1994

Tarantino's nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement by the Directors Guild of America for "Pulp Fiction" (1994) made him the first American-born non-DGA member to be so honored. However, by the time of the release for "Django Unchained" in December 2012, Taratino had joined the DGA.

"I don't know. It's just this cool connection that happened while we were doing 'Pulp Fiction.' I mean, von Sternberg had Marlene Dietrich, Hitchcock had Ingrid Bergman, Andre Techine had Catherine Deneuve. It's a special bond that I'm proud to have, and hopefully, one day, people will reference me and Uma like they do the others. But the thing about it is, it just kind of is, and there are certain things I don't really want to understand subtextually. I just want it to be and do." – Tarantino on Uma Thurman being called his muse to Rolling Stone magazine, April 2004

"My whole life is dedicated to the further study of cinema, and the day I die is the day I graduate. So it's just like I'm constantly working for my master's thesis in my brain, and it's a lifetime job." – Tarantino to GQ magazine, April 2007